Innovative solar panels producing electricity and heat at the same time developed by London-based company Naked Energy have received a financial boost from DECC.

Promising to produce more than four-times the amount of energy of conventional photovoltaic panels, the Virtu combined solar collectors might enter the market by the end of 2014.

Naked Energy is currently in the production optimisation stages of the project and plans to start small-scale production by mid-2014 with larger volume activity set to start a year later.

The UK Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) funding awarded through the the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund will help the company to test the modular collectors in different climates ranging from temperate to very hot, to assess their efficiency.

"We are delighted to receive this award and vote of confidence from DECC, in what is a highly competitive space," said Christopher Williams, Founder and CEO of Naked Energy.

"The funding will have a dramatic impact on our progress, as we are now able to secure additional talent to our team and partner with some of the best scientific and academic partners in the country."

Previously, Naked Energy secured nearly £250,000 from The Climate-KIC, Europe's largest public-private innovation partnership, working to address the challenge of climate change.

"Innovation is vital for the move towards a low carbon economy and it's great to see so many entrepreneurs rising to the challenge,” Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker commented.